County could benefit from wind energy

Terry Turner, PCCUA instructor for renewable energy technology, said the county is within range of being feasible for wind energy use, although it is still not the ideal site.

Sarah Morris

A recently completed project has proven that Arkansas County could reap the benefits of wind energy. Terry Turner, PCCUA instructor for renewable energy technology, said the county is within range of being feasible for wind energy use, although it is still not the ideal site.

“Even though some energy production figures (mostly in the upper range capacity turbines) show sufficient energy production to serve a net metering agreement, the cost-benefit would have to be evaluated based on the cost of replaced energy,” according to the newly issued “Wind Resource Assessment Report” for DeWitt.

The data is the result of a 12-month wind study on the PCCUA-DeWitt campus as part of the Arkansas Anemometer Loan Program. It was implemented by John Brown University of Siloam Springs on May 1, 2011, through April 27.

According to the report, the DeWitt campus, particularly since it offers a renewable energy program “would definitely benefit from the installation of a wind turbine. The site measured does have enough wind resources to have a small wind turbine operating 60 percent of the time, serving an academic purpose,” the report read.

Turner said he is certainly looking at putting up a wind turbine and is already looking at funding resources, such as grants. The wind turbines would be more suitable in Arkansas County for the educational level than the average person.

For individuals considering wind turbines, Turner said the study has proven that it will take longer for individuals to get a return on their money through energy savings.

The amount of wind needed varies with the turbine’s size. According to arkansasenergy.com, a 1.5-kilowatt wind turbine would meet the needs of a home requiring 300 kilowatt-hours per month. This turbine would require 6.26-meters-per-second, or 14-mile-per-hour, annual average wind speed.

“The smaller the turbine, the more wind is needed to work,” he said.

According to program results, a 15 kilowatt turbine at 30 meters showed the highest capacity factor of 30 percent with an overall annual energy production of 40,067 kilowatt-hours. The predominant, most energetic winds in Arkansas County came from the south.

To collect this data, John Brown and PCCUA officials used three anemometers, which clock how fast the wind is blowing every four minutes at two heights ? 68 feet in the air and 110 feet. By taking the wind levels at each number, the officials are able to calculate wind levels at other various heights.

The information collected includes the wind’s temperature in Celsius as well as how fast it is going in meters per second. According to arkansasenergy.com, wind speeds of at least 4 meters per second is 9 miles per hour.

For one meter per second gust of wind, it equals about 2.2 miles. On the PCCUA-DeWitt campus, the wind speed (at 20 meters) averaged 4.1 meters per second.

John Brown, in conjunction with the Arkansas Wind Working Group, launched the state’s anemometer loan program in April 2010 through $25,000 in Wind Powering America funding and additional state funds. Turner originally applied for the program January 2010, however, he wasn’t selected until the following year.

For Turner, he said in July 2011 that he is more interested in wind energy than solar energy because it would put out more energy and collect energy throughout the night as well.

“I’m really excited about it,” he said. “I’ve had people inquire about it.”